Project Overview 

Spectroscopy was performed on NGC 1705 in order to determine the age and mass of the star formation region. The values were determined by comparing synthetic, simulated stellar formation spectra obtained from Starburst 99 to the observed spectrum. Initial parameters such as metallicity and distance had to be found via research prior to using the stellar formation modeling software.

Analysis & Results

A metallicity of (Z ≈ 0.35 Zsun) was obtained from B. O’Halloran et al. A distance of 5.1 Mpc acquired from the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database. Upon comparing the spectra, the age of the star formation region was calculated to be (7.60 ± 0.30) Myr. The mass of the cluster was calculated to be (0.43 ± 0.03) × 10^6 Msun. Values for age and mass obtained through photometric methods by F. Annibali et al. were 10-15 Myr and approximately 10^5 Msun respectively. These inconsistencies lead to suspicion of the accuracy and origin of the distance value.

Project Achievements

The results did not match other scientific conclusions. It was determined after the fact that the results reported had flaws. The data extracted from the Starburst 99 simulation was incorrect due to incorrect input parameters. The project was flawed from the early stages. However, due to the organization and documentation, it was easy to discredit the results and further explanation wasn’t necessary.